


Proof

by butyoumight



Series: Since the Ocean is Our Coffin [7]
Category: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-21
Updated: 2011-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-21 15:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/226557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butyoumight/pseuds/butyoumight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>The tears he'd been fighting to restrain finally slipped his grasp, spilling two silent tracks down his cheeks. He had never been able to properly control his emotions around Basco, that was the tap root of everything that had happened.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Proof

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate Universe. Follows up my _[Shuffling Your Deck of Trick Cards](http://archiveofourown.org/series/8684)_ series.

Joe still wouldn't meet Marvelous' eyes, try though the Captain might to catch his gaze. Guilt radiated off Joe in waves, Marvelous could actually feel it washing over his skin, making the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

So focused was Marvelous on getting Joe to acknowledge him, it took him a moment to notice when they'd stopped moving and, glancing up, realized they'd returned to the Galleon, were standing right beside one of the great anchors.

Joe sighed softly and Marvelous glanced at him. Joe was staring up at the Galleon tethered above them, rocking gently on a soft breeze. Marvelous dropped his hand to Joe's hip and gripped at him.

"It's your home." He said softly, his words rough as they broke through the heady silence.

"I know that." Joe responded. He blinked rapidly a few times, and it was an action Marvelous recognized well enough. He was trying not to cry.

Joe shifted, turning to put his arms around Marvelous carefully, holding him tight in a gentle hug. Marvelous could feel how ragged Joe's breaths were, stuttering as he struggled to maintain control.

"I have to do this. It's the right decision for everyone. It's the only way I can protect you all."

"You mean him too." Marvelous said against Joe's neck, but any hint of venom that might have once colored similar words was gone. He spoke with a simple weary acceptance.

Joe swallowed hard, the gulp sounded painful. "I do. Damn it all, but I do."

Joe pulled away, reached beneath his jacket to draw out Marvelous' Mobirates. It was technically indistinguishable from any of the others, but Marvelous knew it was his, retrieved from Basco. Marvelous sighed but he held out his hand, and Joe placed the device gently in his open palm. Then he turned and started to walk away.

He was several yards away before words found Marvelous again. "Joe!"

Joe paused, turned to look over his shoulder, and for the first time since Joe had come to rescue him, their eyes met. Even at this distance, Marvelous could recognize the confusion and turmoil that clouded Joe's gaze.

"Will you come back?" Marvelous called, half afraid of the answer he might receive.

A fleeting grin flickered across Joe's face, and Marvelous' heart leaped.

"As soon as I can." Joe's voice was soft, but it carried. "I promise."

Marvelous smiled back at him and nodded. Joe returned the gesture, and then continued on his way.

Marvelous returned to the ship. He had wounds to treat, and apologies to make to his crew.

X

Basco hadn't seemed to have moved hardly at all when Joe finally returned. He was still sitting against the wall, his legs folded, with Joe's Mobirates cradled gently in his open hands as though it were particularly fragile, a freshly bloomed flower he was afraid to crush.

Basco lifted his head as Joe approached, and a slow smile spread across his face. Not his trademark smirk but a gentle and genuine expression that made him seem much younger, negating somewhat the scar on his face or the accompanying streak of white through his dark hair. Joe ducked his head, then dropped carefully to his knees in front of Basco.

"You came back." Basco said after a moment of silence.

"I did." Joe nodded. "I had to."

"To protect them?" Basco asked, his tone so light that Joe knew it was an act.

"Yes," Joe admitted, and Basco's shoulders sagged slightly, he looked down at the Mobirates again, closed his hands around it. "And no."

Basco looked up, and Joe closed his eyes. The tears he'd been fighting to restrain finally slipped his grasp, spilling two silent tracks down his cheeks. He had never been able to properly control his emotions around Basco, that was the tap root of everything that had happened.

When Joe opened his eyes again, he found Basco patiently waiting with his arms spread, and without a single shred of willpower left, Joe fell forward into his embrace and let Basco press frantic kisses into his hair.

"I have to go back to them, too." Joe finally whispered, his head on Basco's shoulder. Basco's grip tightened slightly, enough that Joe noticed.

"No. You can't."

"I have to."

Basco made a small sound somewhere in his throat, shook his head. "You can't leave me again, blue-chan. I've finally got you back. You're all I have."

Joe took a shaky breath, then carefully pulled out of Basco's embrace. Basco relented, but he left his hands on Joe's shoulders possessively. Their eyes met for just a moment before Joe had to look away. "I've made many promises. One of them brought me back to you, but another will keep drawing me back to them."

"Then I'll go with you." Basco said, and his words made it sound so simple, so matter-of-fact. Joe had to laugh, a weak chuckle that drew a confused smile out of Basco. "What?"

"You know damn well Marvelous would never let you near the Galleon."

Basco actually pouted, huffing and dropping his hands from Joe's shoulders, crossing his arms like a petulant child nearing a tantrum. "But I need you. They have each other."

Joe smirked. "There's more to it than that. I have obligations."

"To them. To Marvelous."

Joe reached for Basco, and Basco couldn't resist even if he was in a mood. He opened his arms again and Joe leaned against his chest.

The building, the empty warehouse that Basco had been making his temporary home, shook suddenly with an explosion that rocked them both, made the wall at Basco's back tremble. A large piece of the ceiling crashed to the floor and both of them struggled to their feet, turning wild eyes to each other.

"Who-" the question had barely left Joe's lips before it was answered, not by Basco but by the steady cadence of marching feet that Joe recognized with sinking dread. He grabbed Basco by the arm.

"Why did you run? That first day, when Zangyack attacked."

Basco was pale, his eyes squinted and pulled the scar on his temple taut, made it stand out. "The old man, he doesn't trust me anymore. I stole a ship to get here." The explanations fell from his mouth like desperate prayers, and Joe felt cold. "Nothing else mattered. I had nothing left. I had to get you back."

"You're wanted." Joe stated, and Basco nodded once before he strode across the open space of the room, skirting around the fallen chunk of the ceiling to scoop up his sword.

The Goumin filed in, quickly filling the space with ranks of the armored soldiers, every ten accompanied by a Sugoumin captain. Joe moved to stand at Basco's side, and Basco touched his arm. "Run."

Joe glanced at him. The soldiers weren't attacking yet, they were waiting at a barely restrained ready. Waiting for a Commander, Joe was sure. "No."

"They're after me." Basco insisted.

"You don't know that."

Basco took a shaking breath, then produced Joe's Mobirates from somewhere beneath his shawl. Joe hadn't even noticed him picking it up. Basco pressed the device into Joe's hand, and Joe closed his fingers around it. He knew he couldn't use it. It would alert Navi to the fact that he was fighting, knew the others would assume he was fighting Basco and they would rush to his defense.

No. He'd have to make due with his cutlass.

A Commander strolled in, completely at his ease, an expression that might have been a predatory smile on its scaly face. Joe didn't recognize him, realized he didn't recognize any of the Commanders anymore. It had been too long.

Basco lifted his sword, and Joe mirrored the motion. Not back to back, there was no exit behind them and the soldiers hadn't bothered to box them in. They were trapped anyway.

The Commander laughed, a hissing sound that made Joe feel cold.

"Not just the traitor, but one of the wanted pirates!" He rasped, his voice a reptilian purr. "Our lucky day, gentlemen!" This was more of a roar, designed to intimidate. Joe took a steadying breath, preparing for the charge.

"Blue-chan..." Basco whispered, his lips hardly moving.

Joe never heard what Basco was going to say. The soldiers raised their weapons and charged, and anything either of them might have said was lost to the frenzy of a near hopeless battle. But only near hopeless. Joe found he fought almost as well beside Basco as he did with his back to Marvelous'. He's beginning to think they might be able to escape this, as he and Marvelous had once escaped a similar force, and then Joe near death.

Joe didn't see the flash, didn't hear the blast, didn't feel the wave of explosive heat. It happened too quickly, he was unconscious before he hit the floor.

If he'd been awake, though, he might have heard even over the ferocious fighting, Basco screaming a horrible bone-chilling cry for bloody vengeance.

X

When his Mobirates rang, Marvelous didn't even want to answer it. His crew was all present, sitting around the table, eating a midday meal and trying desperately to pretend like one of their number wasn't conspicuously missing.

That left only two people who might be calling him, and he wasn't sure he wanted to hear from either of them. His mind clearing, his wounds and injuries tended, he was beginning to grow frustrated and angry, and some of it was certainly directed at his stupid self-sacrificing first mate.

Still, it might be trouble, and so he answers with a single syllable that is only somewhat affirmative.

"Marvelous."

It's Basco's voice, and Marvelous very nearly hangs up on him outright, expecting Basco to be gloating. The only thing that stays his hand and evens his temper is the slow realization that Basco had, for the first time in Marvelous' memory, addressed him by his proper name.

"What is it?" He demands. The crew is all looking at him, frowning, their eyes shooting questions that Marvelous doesn't have answers to yet.

"You have to come," and now Marvelous can hear the note of panic coloring Basco's tone. "Please, he's hurt. He's badly hurt and I can't treat him on my own."

Marvelous' heart moves into his throat, beating painfully. "We're coming," he chokes out.

He's on his feet, heading for the console before he's even finished the words.

X

Marvelous doesn't bother with walking, even running. Basco had been too frantic, and Marvelous refused to waste any time. He piloted the Galleon directly to the place where Basco had indicated he was living.

Marvelous had seen a lot of destruction across the galaxy, most of it perpetrated by Zangyack forces, but even he was shocked by the nearly demolished wreck that had, only scant hours previously been a perfectly sound, if empty building. Most of the roof had caved in, all of the windows were now empty sills, the glass shattered and gleaming up from the ground like scattered diamonds.

Marvelous wasn't taking any chances. He took the whole crew with him, descending from the ship and picking their way through the wreckage, armed and ready.

They heard Basco before they saw him, heard him crying. Sobbing, really, and Marvelous feels sick. He'd never known Basco to cry, can't imagine what would cause him to break down, how bad it must be.

Marvelous found them in a small clearing in the destruction, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of tens of Goumin. Basco was on his knees, holding Joe against his chest, weeping openly into his hair. Joe's cutlass and the sword Basco had been using lie forgotten near by.

Joe was in a frightful state. Pale and bloody, his clothes charred and tattered, a horrible burn marking his right side, both his face and his torso. What worried Marvelous more was the way his hair was matted with more blood, his ponytail so saturated that it hung limp over Basco's arm, steadily dripping.

His face was slack, his eyes only mostly closed so even from this distance Marvelous could see the whites showing. He might be dead, if not for the tiniest, almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest.

Basco looked up at the crew blankly, and his eyebrows creased, as if he was wondering how long they'd been there. How long he'd been here, holding Joe's broken form to himself.

Ahim gave a little frightened gasp, and Marvelous had to hold out an arm to stop Don, advancing with his gun trained on Basco.

"What happened?" Don demanded before Marvelous could make his throat cooperate. "What did you do to him?"

Basco blinked. "Zangyack."

Marvelous glanced at the crew, pushed Don behind himself gently. Luka was biting her lip, Gai had a hand over his mouth.

Marvelous stepped forward. Basco looked up at him, and Marvelous found himself pitying the monster that had caused him so much strife. He'd never seen Basco look so pathetic. Marvelous crouched in front of him, held out his arms. "Give him to me."

He was only a little surprised when Basco pressed a kiss to Joe's bloody but otherwise unmarked left temple. Behind Marvelous, Don made a sound that would not have been out of place coming from an angry cat.

Marvelous was certainly more surprised when that small fleeting kiss was it. No questions, no demands. Basco carefully passed Joe into Marvelous' arms.

Marvelous stood up. His shoulder that Basco had earlier wounded twinged a bit with the strain, but Marvelous ignored it. Joe's condition was more important.

Basco rose slowly to his feet, swaying slightly. "Please, please don't take him away from me."

Marvelous wanted to leave, had a feeling Basco wouldn't stop them. He glanced at each member of his crew. Don was frowning, his gun hadn't shifted from its aim on Basco's face. Ahim's hands were clasped in front of her, and she had eyes only for Joe. Marvelous knew she was already planning how best to treat his wounds, how best to care for him. Luka couldn't seem to look anywhere in particular, and Marvelous remembers how she had reacted when he'd first retrieved them from their fleeting captivity. How much Joe really meant to her, even though neither of them were able to properly express it.

"It's my fault." Basco whispered, hanging his head. "I have to know he's alright. I have to help."

Only Gai was looking at Marvelous. Awaiting orders, desperate to prove himself. Gai gave Marvelous the confidence to support a decision that he knew was not going to be taken particularly well.

"Luka." He hated asking her, but he knew he couldn't trust Don not to disobey his orders. Not where Basco was concerned. It was a disturbing thought, gentle Don and his bloodthirsty vendetta. "Bind him."

Luka looked at him, her eyes wide. Don turned a glare on him. "Marvelous, you can't be serious!"

Marvelous took a steadying breath. "I am. He's coming with us."

"After all he's done?" Don demanded. "We should kill him now and be done with it."

Marvelous glanced over his shoulder at Basco, who looked back at him meekly and then slowly held out his arms, wrists together. Offering. Accepting his terms.

"He has many things to answer for. But this is not one of them. He's done us a service, and for that alone I will not kill him." He decided not to punctuate it with _not today_.

Luka stepped forward to tie Basco's wrists.

Marvelous carried Joe out of the demolished building, Ahim and Gai close on his heels. Luka followed, leading Basco with a sword at his back. Basco made no attempt to struggle, fight or escape.

Don was the last to leave the wreckage, cursing softly to himself the whole way.


End file.
